Homegrown Parkes Spring 2024 Event a Cracker!
In October 2024, Central West Lachlan Landcare held their Fourth Homegrown Parkes Event
Community Participation - LEP23-005-CWLL-01_LLC_006
The issue
Post-Covid, it was recognised that there was a need within our community for an event that provided connection, education and promoted local small businesses.
Adults and children were disconnected and needed an opportunity to connect in a safe, outdoor environment.
The solution
Central West Lachlan Landcare agreed to commit to running Homegrown Parkes, with the support of Parkes Community Arts and Parkes Shire Council.
An event was developed with the focus of education and getting people back into their gardens and living their best life! Homegrown Parkes events have been developed to connect, engage and encourage our community.
These events were also an opportunity for local small businesses to share their passion and enthusiasm for what they do in a safe space.
The impact
Our Spring 2024 Homegrown Parkes event was our fourth successful event.
Surveys are distributed at the conclusion of each event to gauge feedback from stallholders/food vendors and the general public.
We have been extremely fortunate to have this information to feed back into our future events, particularly around demonstrations, workshops, educational opportunities and stallholder suggestions.
Whilst having 100 stalls in our park would provide a lot of diversity, it is really important that we maintain a standard that focusses on promoting local and regional businesses, not for profits etc. Bigger is not necessarily better. A bigger event is not our goal. Promoting local small niche businesses is our priority.
These events would not be possible without many volunteers contributing on the day from Central West Lachlan Landcare and Parkes Community Arts volunteers.
Parkes Shire Concert Band, Parkes Music and Dramatic Society and Parkes School of Dance and many other local organisations provide services for free for these events. We love being able to showcase our local talent and have locals sharing with locals.
Key facts
- Homegrown Parkes events were developed in response to a need within the community for connectivity, education and promoting local, small businesses.
- CWLL have committed to delivering Homegrown Parkes events twice a year until June 2027.